Luminescent articles incorporating fluorescent or phosphorescent pigments can be found in a wide array of applications from safety apparel to ropes and tow. Fluorescent or phosphorescent pigments can be incorporated into such products by coating or laminating the product with a fluorescent or phosphorescent material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,382,355 to Warren is directed to a rope that can be coated with a luminous material. U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,558 to Wadely is directed to a yarn product dipped or bathed in a solution of phosphorescent particles, binder and resin.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,623,579 and 4,546,042, each to Quon, are directed to decorative composite articles that include paired outer layers of a thermoplastic resin between which is disposed a decorative layer including a composition with a colorant component and a resin binder material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,608,298 to Schoots is directed to a laminated film product that includes outer clear plastic films laminated with an adhesive layer positioned therebetween and including a pearlescent material.
There can be problems associated with the manufacture and use of these and other coated or laminated products. The coating or laminate structure can exhibit poor adhesion so that the coating or layers of the composite can delaminate or otherwise detach. The coated or laminated product can also exhibit limited flexibility, which can create difficulties incorporating the same into a downstream product. The use of coatings or laminating techniques can also require numerous and time consuming processing steps. These and other issues can increase manufacturing costs and lengthen production times.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,590 to Kobsa et al. is directed to a satin weave filling faced fabric using sheath-core filaments. The Kobsa et al. patent states that an iridescent effect can be achieved by dyeing the core component and the sheath component different colors. Both the sheath and the core components of the fibers are dyed after fiber formation using different dye colors, thus requiring multiple processing steps and/or colorants to accommodate the different conditions required to apply different dye types to the fibers. See also JP 04034016, directed to a dyed conjugate fiber and JP 06128807, directed to a sheath/core fiber with a sheath/core ratio of 1:1 and colorant present in both the sheath and the core. See also JP 6033318, directed to a sheath/core fiber construction in which the core includes a polypropylene polymer blended with a fluorescent dye-containing nylon polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,069 to Owens is directed to thermoplastic polymeric materials in pelletized or chip form treated so that the pellets or chips can be uniformly coated with a phosphorous pigment. The coated pellets or chips are formed into a melt and mixed to distribute the phosphorus material uniformly throughout the melt. The melt is extruded to form various textile products with phosphorus material distributed throughout the product. U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,437 to Geisel is directed to a method for providing luminescence to fibrous material in which a metal aluminate oxide pigment is combined with a thermoplastic polymer and the combination heated, mixed and extruded into a fiber in which the pigment is distributed throughout the cross section of the fiber.